10 of the most iconic marathon DJ sets ever

Have you got the stamina?

Valerie Lee

24 November 2017

Last weekend, Italian talent Joseph Capriati dominated with a spontaneous 25-hour and 30 minute DJ set that took place at Heart Nightclub in Miami. Though he did have the intention of playing what’s known as a “marathon set”, he admitted the next day (after a long bought of well-deserved sleep, hopefully) that he had no idea he’d go on to break his personal record for longest set.

There’s something very special about the elite league of artists able to capture a crowd for five, eight, 10 or more hours thanks to their fine-tuned curation abilities. Danny Tenaglia championed his way to legend status after making his 12-hour sets a signature and any underground savant knows that a Villalobos set is a guaranteed good time with a strong chance of marathoning involved. Mixmag has compiled some of our absolute favorite marathon winners and their stories.

Want insider tips on how to play the perfect marathon set? Find our guide here.

Floating Points & Four Tet five-hour closing set for Plastic People

After 20 years in business, in 2015, Shoreditch’s beloved Plastic People club closed its doors, but not without one more final and worthy hurrah from Floating Points and Four Tet. Both had held residencies at the venue across the past eight years and had plenty to tee up to the decks for its speaker system’s final run. “We set about packing the anthems from our respective residencies,” Floating Points explains. “On the night, once the people were through the doors, [we] played two records in turn for the rest of the dance.”

Carl Cox’s final nine-hour set at Space

In 2016, the nightlife community said a tearful goodbye to Space Ibiza, which closed its doors after hosting some of the most iconic nights in the White Isle’s history. Of course, it only made sense for fan-favorite Carl Cox to make the closing series a special one. For his 14-year long Music is Revolution residency, he played one final time in Space Ibiza, going out with a bang with an epic nine-hour set. He also decided to play vinyl for the first time in 10 years, giving the night an extra special touch. “I want to show respect to those older tunes,” Carl said about his marathon set. “Dig out some of my old vinyl and play them alongside new tunes.” He did just that, playing tunes from the likes of Derrick Carter and Jeff Mills to the surprising but heartfelt choice to close out with ‘The End’ from The Doors.